Music

To this day, they were, their fans believe, the best band in the world. Critics and sales figures told a similar story. Yet for all their brilliance and adoration – their famously energetic live shows routinely interrupted by stage invasions – The Smiths were continually plagued by their reticence to play the game, and by the time of 1987’s Strangeways Here We Come, they had split.

Tony Fletcher’s A Light That Never Goes Out – part celebration, part paean – moves from Manchester in the nineteenth-century to the present day to tell the complete story of The Smiths. The product of extensive research and unprecedented access, it will serve to confirm The Smiths as one of the most important and influential rock groups of all time.

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‘Literally changed the course of my life’ James Murphy

‘The chapter on Larry Levan alone transformed me into wanting to be your favorite DJ’ Questlove

‘The original and still the best’ Gilles Peterson

‘We can’t tell the story of dance music without speaking the names of Sharon White and Judy Weinstein, so I welcome this vital update’ The Blessed Madonna

When someone says, ‘You have to know your history…’ this is it. This classic book is the whole unruly story of dance music in one volume. It recreates the dancefloors that made history, conjuring their atmosphere with loving detail and bringing you the voices of the DJs and clubbers at their heart – from grime, garage, house, hip hop and disco, to techno, soul, reggae, rock’n’roll, and EDM. Whether musical outlaw, obsessive crate-digger or overpaid superstar, the DJ has been at the spinning centre of nightlife for a century, making parties wilder, pushing clubbers harder, and driving music into completely new shapes and styles. In 1999 this was the first book to do justice to the DJ’s rollercoaster ride. Twenty years later, it’s fully refreshed, carefully updated and filled with even more stories, including two brand new chapters. This edition comes with a new foreword by James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem).

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The complete lyrics from cultural icon and bestselling author Nick Cave, spanning his entire career to date, with a new foreword by Andrew O’Hagan

From Nick Cave’s writing for The Birthday Party, through highly acclaimed albums like Murder Ballads, Henry’s Dream, DIG, LAZARUS, DIG!!! and Ghosteen, this is a must-have book for all fans of the dark, the beautiful and the defiant – for all fans of the songs of Nick Cave.

‘The greatest living songwriter’ NME

‘A glowing wire, a mainline to meaning ad feeling and art’ New Yorker

‘Nick Cave is a true lyrical master. He can conjure empathy and hope out of thin air, light out of darkness’ Cillian Murphy

‘His lyrics – so rich in the toils of love, so committed to memory and everlasting presence – are the best-made of his generation’ Andrew O’Hagan

‘A poetic craftsman’ Will Self

‘Alternative rock legend’ Billboard

‘Cave’s genius rings loud and clear’ Evening Standard

Cover art by Aleksandra Waliszewska

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As the founder of Island Records, fabled music producer Chris Blackwell has discovered and worked with some of the most important musicians of the second half of the twentieth century – from Steve Winwood to Cat Stevens, Bob Marley to Grace Jones, U2 to Roxy Music, plus countless others. He is also widely credited with having brought reggae music to the world stage.

Now, as reflects on his life, Blackwell takes us back to the island where it all began: Jamaica – the place where his family once partied with the likes of Noël Coward, Ian Fleming and Errol Flynn and where, as Jamaican local music began to adopt contemporary American trends, Blackwell’s burgeoning musical instincts flourished. It was also the birthplace of the now-legendary Island Records, founded by Blackwell in 1959.

Five years later, while living in London selling Jamaican records to Caribbean immigrants, Blackwell came across the vocal talents of teenager Millie Small, who he paired with the song ‘My Boy Lollipop’. The producer added a ska beat and released what would be a worldwide hit.

But this was just the beginning of a truly remarkable career. In this fascinating memoir, including up to fifty photos supplied by Blackwell’s team, the music icon will discuss the many artists he’s worked with over the years, as well as unpicking the initiatives, decisions and risks that ultimately brought such success to both Blackwell and his esteemed musical collaborators.

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**A SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN & TELEGRAPH MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022**

**INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTH**

**GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY**

**FINANCIAL TIMES ‘BEST SUMMER BOOKS 2022’ PICK**

‘Incredibly moving.’ – Guardian

‘Entertaining.’ – Telegraph

‘Most books about pop stars focus on the way we turn average human beings into demi-gods. In writing a book about how they have to turn back into humans Nick Duerden has done both us and them a service.’ – David Hepworth

‘Funny, poignant and often inspirational.’ – Mat Osman

The desire for adulation is a light that never goes out. We live in a culture obsessed by the notion of fame – the heedless pursuit of it; the almost obligatory subsequent fallout. But what’s it like to actually achieve it, and what happens when fame abruptly passes, and shifts, as it does, onto someone else?

This is the point at which pop stars are at their most heroic, because they don’t give up. They keep on striving, keep making music, and refuse simply to ebb away. Some sustain themselves on the nostalgia circuit, others continue to beaver away in the studio, no longer Abbey Road, perhaps, so much as the garden shed. But all of them, in their own individual ways, still dare to dream.

Exit Stage Left features tales of drug addiction, bankruptcy, depression and divorce, but also of optimism, a genuine love of the craft, humility and hope. This is a candid, laugh-out-loud and occasionally shocking look at what happens when the brightest stars fall back down to earth.

‘Exit Stage Left is the book I’ve long wanted to read about the PTSD-like after-effects of pop stardom – and Nick Duerden is the perfect writer for the job. The pop star’s bittersweet lot is represented with flair and empathy.’ – Pete Paphides, author of Broken Greek

‘Exit Stage Left is a funny and poignant book, drawing on Duerden’s considerable experience as a journalist and interviewer . . . he understands what motivates this strange bunch of people.’ – Andy Miller, Spectator

‘Fame is the brightest candle, but in this brilliant collection of interviews, Nick Duerden answers the question: what does a candle do after it’s burned out?’ – David Quantick

‘Duerden finds fascinating layers of humanity, pathos, humour and wisdom in equal measure. A brilliant book, for artists and fans alike.’ – Frank Turner

Featuring brand new interviews with the likes of: Bob Geldof, Shaun Ryder, Robbie Williams, Roisin Murphy, Stewart Copeland, Billy Bragg, Wendy James, Alex Kapranos, Joan Armatrading, Leo Sayer, Gary Lightbody, Lisa Maffia, Tim Booth, Bill Drummond, Rufus Wainwright, David Gray, and Justin Hawkins.

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